Friday, 31 January 2014

Today
I thought I would talk a bit about the inspiration of my latest story.

I
have just finished the first draft of my medieval fantasy, Black is the Colour.

I
stumbled across a picture some time ago on Bigstock (and yes I bought it), it
was an atmospheric photo of a girl surrounded by ravens.

In
my head it mixed with the lyrics of an old traditional song and a half
forgotten fairytale.

Anyway,
I still have to edit the story before I send it off and hopefully find it a
home. It is the first in a series and I’ve just started writing the next instalment.
This story is about ravens and the next is about wolves.

But
I thought I would share some of the inspiration behind Black is the Colour
today.

Blurb

Black is the Colour...

Ciana
loves Oran and vows that nothing will separate them. But her father has other
plans and will do anything to stop their love, even if he has to turn to the dark
magic of a witch to do it.

Oran
knows that he doesn’t deserve Ciana. She is a lady and he is nothing but the
village blacksmith. But their love is stronger than the metal he forges and welds.
She has his heart and he will never turn from her no matter the cost.

Separated,
Ciana will need all her strength to journey through the deep forest and save
Oran from the witch’s curse. Alone and with only a trail of black feathers to
follow, Ciana will fight against the odds and attempt to bring her lover home.

Tuesday, 28 January 2014

As the English Civil War divides England and tears families apart, Kinton Lacey
castle is one of the brave few loyal to the roundhead cause.

With her father away, Deliverance Felton will do whatever it takes to defend
her family home against the royalist forces ranged against it. She can shoot
and wield a sword as well as any man and anything she needs to know about siege
warfare she has learned from a book...but no book can prepare her for what is
to come.

Captain Luke Collyer, soldier of fortune and a man with his own reasons for
loyalty to the parliamentary cause, is sent to relieve the castle. Everything
he knows about siege warfare in general and women in particular he has learned
from experience, but when it comes to Deliverance Felton has he met his match?

Deliverance will not give up her command lightly and Luke will have to face a
challenge to his authority as fierce as the cavalier foe outside the walls. He
will do whatever it takes to win Deliverance’s trust but will he run the risk
of losing his own, well guarded, heart?

He owns three shipping companies, a
diamond mine, and his own castle.
He knows Portuguese, Hindi, Mandarin and Morse code.
His assets net thirteen million.

Everyone thinks Andrew Tilmore, Lord Preston, the financial prodigy dubbed “The
King of Threadneedle Street,” has it all, but he wants the one prize money
can’t buy: his childhood sweetheart.

Alysia Villier can’t say if it’s worse having Andrew’s father in control of her
inheritance or Andrew in control of her heart. He’s ruined her for any other
man, but she simply can’t give in to him. She knows he’s destined for great
things — marrying a courtesan’s daughter would jeopardize everything he stands
for.

Keeping Alysia out of trouble and away from eager suitors becomes a
cross-continental quest for Andrew, and he won’t be stopped by his
old-fashioned family or the disapproval of the ton. After all, he’s a man with
the power to play newspapers and investors like pawns, tumble world markets and
incite riots… but can he win the biggest gamble of his life?

When Ornella vacations in Sicily,
she meets Hugh, an archaeologist working on a dig in the beautiful town of
Taormina. Hugh convinces Ornella to join him on a trip to the island of
Stromboli, where they hike up a live volcano at dusk.

After a passionate night together Ornella, an actress usually focused on her
career, suspects she's in love. But after breakfast the next morning, Hugh
vanishes.

Ornella is left with Hugh's phone, sunglasses and a sudden end to the love
affair she thought she didn't want. Desperate to know if Hugh ran out on her or
if he's met with disaster, she wants to search for him. But with an important
screen test in Rome and her agent impatiently waiting for her, Ornella faces a
dilemma.

Little does she know the danger Hugh is in – and that she is the key to his
survival.

Allison Pierson is a well-to-do young lady traveling by stagecoach from her
home in Boston to meet her intended in Santa Fe, but instead finds herself
stranded in a military fort in the middle of Indian Territory when her
stagecoach leaves without her.

Given the choice to either temporarily marry an officer until her intended can
come rescue her or take her chances with the Indians, she marries the glib
Captain Wes Tucker, who unbeknownst to her, grew up in a wealthy Charleston
family and despises everything she represents.

But when it's time for her beau to reclaim her and for Allison and Wes to annul
their marriage, will she want to go with him, and more importantly, will Wes
let her?

Sebastian Malheur is the most dangerous sort of rake: an
educated one. When he’s not scandalizing ladies in the bedchamber, he’s
outraging proper society with his scientific theories. He’s desired, reviled,
acclaimed, and despised—and he laughs through it all.

Violet Waterfield, the widowed Countess of Cambury, on the other hand, is
entirely respectable, and she’d like to stay that way. But Violet has a secret
that is beyond ruinous, one that ties her irrevocably to England’s most
infamous scoundrel: Sebastian’s theories aren’t his. They’re hers.

So when Sebastian threatens to dissolve their years-long conspiracy, she’ll do
anything to save their partnership...even if it means opening her vulnerable
heart to the rake who could destroy it for good.

Saturday, 25 January 2014

Hi everyone and
welcome to the Burns’ Night Blog Hop brought to you by Love, Lust and Lipstick Stains.

Today we are celebrating
all things Scottish – from a wee dram to mega hot highland heroes. Other than
some great posts and a lot of fun there are some amazing prizes up for grabs.

1 x $50
Amazon Gift Card

5 x $10
Amazon Gift Cards

I was lucky enough
to visit Scotland years ago. I fell in love with its history and beauty. The
highlands are just breathtaking as is the rest of the landscape which is dotted
with castles and ancient ruins. One day, with a little luck, I’ll be able to go
again.

But instead of my
travel log ramblings and as we are celebrating Burns’ Night, I thought I would
share one of my favourite poems – A Red Red Rose by the bard himself.

Below is the blurb
from my latest medieval fantasy, Rain (alas not set in Scotland).

Thanks so much for
stopping by and I hope you enjoy the hop.

Nicólexx

Rain

1216 AD

Nuri is caught between
heaven and hell. Two men fight for her love and her soul. The first is Maras,
an elemental being who follows the storms. The second is Brother Erebus, a
pious monk whose tortured soul is twisted by his desire for her. But Nuri may
sacrifice more than her heart when the Church brands her angel a demon. As
Brother Erebus will do anything to protect her soul from the silver haired
devil, even if he has to crush her body to do it.

Welcome to Book’d Out’s
Australia Day Book Giveaway Blog Hop. The blog hop highlights Australian
bloggers, authors, booksellers and publishers. So come on in and join the fun
and discover some fab Aussie blogs and great new stories.

So, turning my attention
to Australia day, I began remembering hazy, hot summers of my youth. Thinking
back I remembered some fabulous Australian stories that have always stayed with
me. So I decided to share just a few of them in no particular order.

Picnic
at Hanging Rock

By
Joan Lindsey

In
1900, a class of young women from an exclusive private school go on an
excursion to the isolated Hanging Rock, deep in the Australian bush. The
excursion ends in tragedy when three girls and a teacher mysteriously vanish
after climbing the rock. Only one girl returns, with no memory of what has
become of the others...

I’ve always loved Joan
Lindsey’s Picnic at Hanging Rock. Not just because it is a beautifully woven
tale but there is something rather special about the Rock itself. Hanging Rock
isn’t that far from where I live, in fact I drive past it every time I go to
Melbourne. Hanging Rock is beautiful, grey, quiet, atmospheric and kind of
creepy if you are there by yourself. Ms Lindsey captured the feeling of it
wonderfully in her mystery story.

My
Brilliant Career

By
Miles Franklin

This
classic Australian novel was written by Miles Franklin, and details her life
being born of the bush in Australia. A fantastic, well-written book with lively
descriptions of a girl's life that can't be passed up by anybody who is drawn
by good stories with captivating details. This novel should be required reading
by anyone interested in Australia or important female writers and novelists in
history.

Playing
Beatie Bow

By
Ruth Park

The game is called
Beatie Bow and the children play it for the thrill of scaring themselves. But
when Abigail is drawn in, the game is quickly transformed into an
extraordinary, sometimes horrifying, adventure as she finds herself transported
to a place that is foreign yet strangely familiar . . .

The story is set in Sydney, Australia and is about a girl named Abigail who
travels back in time to colonial Sydney-Town in the year 1873, where she meets
Beatie Bow, a girl whose name has become part of Abigail's local folklore. Much
of the book is set in real-life locations around Sydney's historical Rocks
district.

All
the Rivers Run

By
Nancy Cato

Her handsome, laughing
cousin Adam gave young Delie Gordon her first taste of love--its soaring
happiness, its heartbreaking pain.

Virile, self-confident riverboat captain Brenton Edwards showed Delie her
weakness in the face of a man's overwhelming passion--but though he made her
his wife, he could not enslave her proud and defiant spirit.

Wealthy and elegant Alastair Raeburn taught Delie how sweet forbidden ecstasy
could be--and how high its ultimate price.

Here is a spellbinding story of a beautiful and vital woman--the man she loved,
the children she bore, the dreams she followed, and the destiny she found.
Here, set against the lush, wild countryside and winding rivers of Victorian
Australia, is a saga that surges over eight dramatic decades and four
generations.

Cinderella meets Swan
Lake in a cross-class, Victorian novel about a ballerina, an aristocrat, and
the space in between them.

Lisette yearns for freedom,
security and love, but none are offered on the run-down stage of The Imperial
Theatre. Instead she has hard work, a tyrannical aunt, and the hope of one day
becoming a prima ballerina. Dancing on the stage she catches the attention of
two powerful men: Lord Gainswith and Lord De Vale.

Lord Evander Gainswith never expected to fall in love, let alone with a woman
so wholly unacceptable to his family and his peers. The sinister Lord De Vale
covets Lisette's youth and strength, and is willing to pay well for it. Lisette
may dance roles in fairy tales and fantasies, but the real world is about to
intrude, bringing with it the harsh realities of life for a young girl with
dreams of rising above the demimonde.

Amazon Author Page

Free Story - Beltane's Bride

Dancing on Air

The Fanfare - Newsletter

Australian Rural Romance

About Me

Hi, I'm Nicole and thanks for dropping by.
I write historical, fantasy and contemporary romances.
I'm a hopeful romantic who is enchanted by love no matter the time period or the realm.
http://nicolehurley-moore.com/